East Dubuque (12-1) rallied from eight points down in the fourth quarter and had a chance to win when Mooseheart (9-2) missed a 1-and-1 with 12 seconds left, but the Warriors missed a 40-footer off the front of the rim with three seconds left.

"We know with the 3-point shooting we have, we're never really out of the game," Dylan Lange (12 points) said. "We can always shoot our way back into it. It's just a matter of when they start falling."

All five Warrior starters are at least 6-2, but Mooseheart turned East Dubuque into 3-point specialists. The Warriors made more 3-pointers (10) than shots inside the arc (eight).

"They cut and move a lot better than we do," Mooseheart coach Ron Ahrens said. "They ran a nice offense to get themselves open. They made us work defensively. They made us tired. We got lucky."

"We left a lot of layups out there," coach Eric Miller said. "Their size obviously changes shots, but that's still a layup."

"It's nerve-wracking that they are so tall," Alex Lange said, "but you've got to tough through it. The basics are the same. You've just got to make the tough plays. And you've got to make the small ones too. The small plays are the ones that get you and keep you from catching up."

The Warriors also lost to Mooseheart by three here last year when Mooseheart won the tourney.

"We showed we can hang with any team," Schulting said.

Stockton 47, Dakota 42: The Blackhawks built a 16-point lead in the second half and hung on when Brett Benning (30 points) missed a game-tying 3-pointer.

"We ran a nice play coming off a double-screen and one of their guys fell down," said Benning, who had a school-record 45 points Friday. "I came wide open - surprisingly open - in the corner and just shot it too hard. I knew right when I let it go it wasn't going in."

Stockton then missed two free throws, but got the rebound and forced Dakota to foul again. Sam Venhuizen scored 16 points, Trey Timpe 12 and Jace Springer 10 for the Blackhawks, who flustered Dakota with their man-to-man defense.

Page 2 of 2 - "We don't see man a lot," Benning said. "That was new to us. They are a great defensive team. They were getting to us that first half."

A-FC 76, South Beloit 62: Bret Gittleson had 24 points, six rebounds and three assists to lead Ashton-Franklin Center. Chad Olson had 21 points (on 10-for-21 shooting) and 14 rebounds for the Sobos, who lost their 12th straight game.

Byron 46, Stockton 42: The Tigers outscored Stockton 11-3 to rally after trailing 29-22 at the half. Clayton Hoover (18 points) made two 3-pointers in the fourth quarter. Trey Timpe led Stockton with 13 points and Sam Venhuizen had 11. The Blackhawks lost despite making 16 of 19 free throws to Byron's 8 of 15.